slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

• 
  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

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  slimboyfat

  Okay.

  But wouldn't you also welcome a positive transformation?

  To be specific the main reform I would require is to stop shunning. And that's basically it. Thereby making blood, free thinking, and most things matters of conscience. People disfellowshipped for "serious sins" (in practice mostly fornication) could be denied privileges but not congregationally shunned, but instead encouraged.

  Plus I'd emphasise teaching God's name and rejecting participation in the military. I'd also reinstate book and magazine publishing with cover prices.

  I'd also encourage education, programs to help the community, accept gay people, women elders.

  But the most important reform is shunning.
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  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  slimboyfat

  And to those who say Watchtower is resilient and always changing over its 140 year history: yes and no. They've transformed in many ways: doctrinally, organisationally, demographically, aesthetically.

  But one constant during most of their history (1879-1990) was that they made a healthy profit from book and magazine publishing. They built their organisation and community on that basis. Can they find another basis on which to support the organisation? Maybe. But it's not like other challenges they've faced. It strikes at the very core of how the religion operated for most of its existence.
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  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  slimboyfat

  Mormons have always had sports and parties to attract new members. During the testimony meeting last month one of the Mormon sisters described herself as having a "baseball baptism". Becuase as a teenager she joined the Mormon missionaries and other local youngsters to play baseball and before she knew it she was baptised a Mormon. That was in the 1960s and she's still a member of the church. So it was an effective way for Mormons to get converts for a long time. But Mormons are finding it difficult to get any converts in western countries these days. Apart from addicts, homeless people or others with severe social problems they don't have much luck at all.
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  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Yes, no, I was confused earlier. On reflection I agree with Fisherman, Watchtower shows signs of imminent collapse. Ultimately, who knows? But I think there's a fair chance Watchtower is in critical condition at the moment.

  Some have assumed that if Lett is lying then it's to exaggerate their financial difficulties in order to elicit more contributions. But it's equally possible he is in fact concealing the extent of the financial crisis in order not to panic the membership or to undermine their confidence in the GB's leadership.
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  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I don't want Watchtower to fail. I'm hoping that an existential crisis will be what prompts JWs to reform and transform into the kind of organisation many hope for. I think it can happen. Oroborius1 used to maintain a website about transformation, but it's not there any more now that I search for it.
• 
  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I'm getting brighter and brighter. ;-)
• 
  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  The second one, as explained above.
• 
  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I would like to see them try to tithe.

  My first post on the thread said 10 or 20 years until real crisis, that's not exactly imminent.

  I don't say they have a deficit just because Lett says so, but because the circumstances indicate it, and their actions confirm it.

  Still waiting for some sort of explanation for how Watchtower will make up for their previous income from publishing. So far he suggestions have been that they will charge for access to the website or else they will tithe the membership. I doubt they would try either, or it would work if they did.

  My best guess is the'll cut back to nearly nothing (staff of 200 or something ridiculous) and hope for the best. Get brothers to produce the website from home for free.

  But cutbacks on such a scale may cause a downward spiral of congregations and membership. That's why I don't think a disorderly collapse is out of the question.
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  192

  Question for SBF

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

  can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

  - this thread is your if you want it..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Aha so it is. My mistake. Time will tell how robust it is.
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  22

  Approximately how many JW have left permanently?

  by longgone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did try a search before posting this question and found nothing current.

  pew research -2016 says approximately two thirds of those born into the religion in the united states alone, no longer consider themselves as members.

  (sorry, still don't know how to link, but it's an easy google search.).

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  slimboyfat

  If you count children of JWs who never got baptised then probably there are more former JWs than JWs. But it would be difficult to arrive at an estimate for that number.

  Maybe use the New Zealand census data and extrapolate to worldwide membership.